Horseman Pass By by Larry McMurtry 4 stars

[Sue]

This atmospheric book gives us a look at a moment in time: small Texas cattle town in the 1950's. Also very much a coming of age story, told from the POV of a young man living on a cattle ranch Lonnie Bannon.

The ranch is owned and run by Lonnie's grandfather Homer. Lonnie's wild and unpredictable step-brother Hud is also part of the family - generally causing chaos.

The underlying story is a crisis when the cattle herd is suspected to have hoof and mouth disease - which will mean the whole herd will need to be killed. The underlying story is brutal enough, but the relationships between the main characters is also very raw.

The book was very well written. The whole thing is pretty depressing, but the writing itself is compelling. This book was the basis for the Paul Newman movie Hud. I'm tempted to find the movie and watch it.

[Charlie]

I saw the movie a long time ago and like the book remember it being (like you say) raw.